Norwalk man sentenced on child porn charge

John Nickerson

Updated 9:27 pm, Sunday, March 9, 2014

STAMFORD -- A Norwalk man arrested by State Police for possession of child pornography was sentenced by a Stamford judge Friday.

Raymond Forlano, 51, of Magnolia Avenue, was sentenced to two years in prison -- the mandatory minimum term -- after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree illegal possession of child pornography. He was also given a 30-year probation sentence.

Until Friday Forlano had been freed after posting a $25,000 court appearance bond.

If he breaks any law while on probation, Forlano could be made to serve all or some of an eight-year suspended sentence handed down Friday by Judge Richard Comerford.

Forlano was arrested in November 2012 on a charge of first-degree possession of child pornography after state police realized he was downloading child pornography from a file-sharing program, his arrest affidavit said.

When they tracked the computer to his address on Magnolia Avenue, where he was living with his mother and wife, and searched it they found 8,502 image files and 43 video files of suspected child pornography, some depicting male children as young as age 2 being sexually assaulted by adult males.

Forlano's defense attorney Mickey Sherman said his client had been laid off from several jobs, his wife became sick, and he became addicted to prescription painkillers shortly before his arrest.

"He had been sexually assaulted as a child. He had a very difficult time," Sherman said, adding Forlano's wife had a heart attack and died sometime after his arrest.

Sherman also said Forlano did not manufacture or distribute or share the videos and pictures he was caught with.

"He did not distribute, make or share them. He just downloaded them. He is not someone who was involved with the production of the films nor was there any suggestion of their being any contact between Ray and a child at any time," Sherman said.

Forlano told police when he was arrested that with the problems in his life, he used the child pornography as a release from everything going on around him and that he knew it was wrong of him to download the files.

As well as having to serve the jail sentence and probation, Forlano also will be put on the state's sex offender website for 10 years after his release.

During the police investigation, Sherman said Forlano was "extraordinarily forthcoming and cooperative and he was very remorseful."